STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Local officials are hopeful for change now that a Staten Islander will be at the helm
of the city's Health and Hospitals Corporation -- an agency the borough has long felt ignored by.

"As a Staten Islander, I understand how other Staten
Islanders feel about it," Dr. Ramanathan Raju, who was appointed by Mayor Bill
de Blasio, told the Advance in a telephone interview.

Staten Island is the only borough without a public hospital. Dr. Raju, who has lived on Todt Hill since 1982, said the
issue will require some study, and he expected there to be plenty of conversation
about it in the coming days.

"I think there must be some equity regarding the health care
access to all the people," Dr. Raju said. "We need to work with other
healthcare players in the market to figure out how to bring good healthcare
to people."

That might be music to the ears of public officials who have
long felt that if the borough can't have a public hospital -- unlikely to happen anytime soon -- the HHC ought to at
least partner with the two private hospital systems already here.

"We do not have a HHC hospital, but the two hospitals we do have provide services to the poor and indigent and HHC has a responsibility to help shoulder this burden," Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore) said. "I look forward to further discussing this with Dr. Raju."

City Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) said he hoped Dr. Raju's appointment might lead the HHC to take "corrective measures" and become "more cognizant of Staten Island's needs."

"I'm just hopeful that the fact that he is
a Staten Islander will cause him to take up our issues of the inequities that
Staten Island has had with HHC, and them not being a partner," said.

Mayor de Blasio touted Dr. Raju's hometown ties in
announcing his appointment at City Hall Tuesday.

"He is a proud Staten Islander by residence and he has spent
much of his professional career in Brooklyn," de Blasio said. "He understands
the need to make sure that every neighborhood in every borough has the finest
quality healthcare."

Dr. Raju returns to HHC -- where he previously headed medical
operations for six years -- after a stint running the Cook County health and
hospitals system in Chicago.

"It is great to come back to New York," he said.

Among his priorities for HHC, he said, will be dealing with
the difficult fiscal situation it is in, providing more equitable care, and
dealing with changes to the system, including the roll out of the Affordable
Care Act.

"This is a challenging and also exciting time in health care,"
he said.

Councilman Steven Matteo said he was pleased the agency
would have a leader who understood the borough's own unique challenges.

"Dr. Raju has his work cut out for him when it comes to
Staten Island, and he has to look for ways that the HHC can help Staten
Island," Matteo said. "I'm looking forward to working with him to meet those
needs."

Borough President James Oddo said his mentor and now
counsel, retired judge John Fusco, is a former neighbor of Dr. Raju's. Oddo said those
personal connections are valuable to building good working relationships.

"The fact that he's a Staten Islander in a position of
authority in a governmental entity that has essentially ignored Staten Island
can only be seen as a good thing," Oddo said. "And I'm taking it as a good
thing."

Another neighbor of Dr. Raju's, Dr. Mohammed Khalid, a
dentist with a practice in Eltingville, also sang his praises. He's known Dr.
Raju for 20 years, he said, saying he's an intelligent and passionate surgeon
and administrator. He's kept up by e-mail with Dr. Raju's work in Chicago, he
said.

"I'm very happy that he's coming back to the
city, and I think he'll do a tremendous job for the HHC because he knows the
subject of health," Dr. Khalid said.

While there is no public hospital here, HHC does
run the Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center Home. The HHC also maintains a
mobile medical center here, as well as a Family Health Center in Mariners
Harbor.